The Shadows
by writer28
Summary: fourth in the series. 10.5 has started to see some strange things that nobody else seems to be able to see. but why do they want Rose? what will 10.5 do when they kidnapp her?
1. Chapter 1

Rose woke up to find the face of the Doctor lovingly gazing into her half closed eyes.

"Hello" he whispered, placing his arm around her waist and nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

She leant closer to him and stroked his cheek with her hand.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked him, her voice slightly croaky.

"Not long" he replied, placing his head in the crook of her neck and kissing it gently,

she smiled and groaned slightly at the feel of it. She loved waking up to this; being kissed and held by the man she had fallen totally and utterly in love with. It had been a week since the Doctor had joined Torchwood and it was going well, he had brought so much knowledge to the team and Rose felt so proud of him. Rose turned to look at the alarm clock; they had 45 minutes until they had to get up to get sorted for another day at Torchwood. She snuggled up closer to him and closed her eyes, letting his scent wash over her. He gently stroked the top of her head with one of his hands and cradled her with the other. They lay in silence, intertwined into each other's bodies. They traffic outside could be heard as they spent the next 10 minutes dozing.

"Rose?" the Doctor spoke softly.

"Mmm?" she replied, sleepily.

The Doctor felt a cold sweat quickly over come him.

"Something isn't right."

Rose looked up at him then sat up, her reaction was fast. She looked at him; he looked extremely pale, like something had scared him to his very core. She didn't like seeing him like this.

"What is it, what's wrong?" she asked him, her voice in a panic.

The Doctor couldn't answer her; he just stared at one spot like something was there, not taking his eyes away from it.

"Doctor!"

She began shaking him trying to get him to respond to her.

The Doctor jumped up suddenly and headed to the window. The street was calm, but his heart was still racing as he followed something with his eyes and as it vanished, the Doctor fell back against the wall, sliding to the floor

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, rushing to his aid.

She supported the back of his neck as he came around, as if he had been unconscious, but he'd been conscious the entire time. She checked his pulse, his heart was racing, she stroked his cheek to try and calm him.

The Doctor stood up abruptly again and looked out of the window, he couldn't see anything now, it was gone, as if it was some kind if bad dream. Rose went to his side and studied his face. He was still pale and his breathing was still quite fast.

"What was it Doctor? What did you see?" she asked, very concerned about him.

"Did you not see it?" he asked, as if it was impossible that she hadn't seen the monster that had stood before him.

Rose shook her head, she was beginning to panic, she recognised the look on the Doctors face and it wasn't good.

"It was like a dark figure, like… like.. a shadow."

"What do you mean?"

He turned to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Rose do not leave my side. Do you understand? Stay with me at all times."

The Doctor couldn't explain why, he just had this feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that she might be in danger. He could tell by the expression on her face that she was confused by his command.

"Doctor lie down, I'll call Harry see if he can come and check you over before work." Rose told him.

The Doctor sat on the bed but refused to lie down, he didn't feel ill, he felt anxious. What ever it was that he saw was after something, something it was willing to fight for.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor sat at the kitchen table staring down at the steaming cup of tea Rose had made him. She sat on his lap, cuddling him and softly running her fingers through his ruffled hair in an act to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere. They sat in silence; the only sound that could be heard was the occasional kiss that Rose placed on his forehead.

After what felt like hours of waiting, Harry finally knocked on the door. The Doctor knew that he didn't need checking over, he had a full medical only last week when he joined Torchwood and he was perfectly healthy. The only reason he had agreed to it was because Rose was worried.

"Hi, sorry I took so long, the traffic was a nightmare." Harry apologised as Rose let him in. she stayed silent.

"How is he?"

"He's ok, I just need you to check him over quickly. Just so I'm sure he's ok." She replied.

"What was it he saw?" Harry asked, his voice semi professional.

"He said it was some kind of dark figure. But I just need to know 'coz if he's fine we've got an unidentified creature on the lose." She explained.

Harry simply nodded along.

"Did you see it?"

Rose shook her head, before turning to see the Doctor stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching them.

"He's also afraid to leave me, he said to stay in his sight."

Harry gave Rose a half smile before following her into the kitchen.

"Hey, Doctor how you doing?" Harry asked him, almost nervously.

"I'm fine. Can we just get this over with?" he pleaded.

Harry knelt down and took his medical equipment out of his bag. It only took 10 minuets for him to complete the examination.

"Well Doctor, there's nothing wrong with you. Both your physical and mental health are perfect." He told him.

Rose let out a sigh of relief.

"So this means that whatever it was that I saw was real. It's out there and it's after something. But why did it come to me?" The Doctor queried.

"Maybe it's something to do with the other universe." Harry suggested.

The Doctor and Rose looked at him in confusion.

"Well maybe it came through with you and it's kinda latched on to you." He continued.

The phone began to ring and the Doctor went in to the hallway to go and answer it.

"But if it's latched on to us, then why is it only showing itself now? Rose questioned.

"Maybe it was an accident, like he wasn't meant to see it."

Rose thought for a moment before the Doctor slowly approached the doorway, interrupting her thoughts.

"Rose" he said softly.

She could see in his eyes that something was wrong.

"It's your mum."

Rose waited patiently for the end of his sentence, it seemed like it took him weeks to finish it.

"She's gone missing."


	3. Chapter 3

Rose stood motionless for a moment, trying to take in what the Doctor had told her. He moved closer to her and laid his hand on the top of her arm to comfort her.

"WH…what do you mean she's gone missing?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Well, she went in to the bathroom earlier this morning to get ready, and She didn't come back out." The Doctor explained a sense of sorrow in his voice.

"We have to get out there and look for her." She demanded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

As she began to walk away the Doctor pulled her back towards him. He cupped her head with his hands.

"Rose the police are out looking for her. What we need to do is get back to the base."

"I can't Doctor, she's gone I can't go into work and do nothing." She insisted.

"We're not going to do nothing."

"Well, what the hell are we going to do?" Rose snapped.

She knew it wasn't the Doctors fault and he was only trying to help.

"There's a good chance that the thing I saw this morning has something to do with your mother's disappearance. I mean who goes in to a bathroom and just disappears right after a ghostly figure appears out of nowhere? So we're gonna have to go to the base and find any trace, anything at all that could give us some clue to what the creature was, and hopefully some insight to what's happened to Jackie."

"I'll go on ahead and get the rest of the team on the case." Harry piped up.

"Thanks" the Doctor said turning and giving him a thankful nod.

He turned his attention back to Rose, who was still silently crying. He hated seeing her like this; he knew how much Jackie meant to her, he had to find her! He pulled Rose close to him and held her, rocking her gently to try and calm her down.

"Come on then let's get on with this." Rose said, pulling away.

As the Doctor and Rose approached their office at the base, Pete was there waiting for them.

"Dad", Rose said, rushing towards him and hugging him.

"Rose. We've looked everywhere. Where the hell is she?"

Rose couldn't answer that question. No one could. They held each other in a tight embrace, while the Doctor slipped away to see how the team were doing, he knew that Rose would be safe with Pete, as long as she didn't leave his sight.

"Right, how's it going?" he asked, as he entered the room.

Jake and Libby were on the computers attempting to track down any sign of alien life form, while Harry was filing through some of the things Jackie had recently used to see if there was anything abnormal imbedded into them.

"No sign of anything unusual so far." Jake replied his eyes fixed to the screen.

"Doctor" the Doctor heard a small, timid voice from behind him. He turned to see Tony clutching his favourite teddy, a look of grief and confusion on his face. He looked so small, so vulnerable. He guessed that this was the only safe place for him to be at the moment. He knelt down to his level and gave him a half smile.

"How you doing Tiny Tyler?" he spoke softly, he was afraid that if he spoke too harshly he'd just upset him even more.

Tony began to cry.

"Where's mummy?" he asked through his sobs.

The Doctor placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"We're looking for her Tony. Don't worry we'll find her, I promise."

Tony looked at the floor and nodded, before running into the Doctor's arms. He picked him up and tried to settle him down.

Rose came through the door to find the Doctor cradling her little brother. She walked over to them and took him from the Doctor's arms.

"You just worry about looking after Tony. I'll sort everything else out." The Doctor assured her.

"No, I can't mum needs me."

"Your mother's got most of Torchwood and the entire Police force looking out for her. All he's got is you."

He was right, Pete wouldn't be able too look after him properly he had to run this team, Rose was the only person left.

"Ok" she nodded, smiling gratefully.

After an hour of searching, still nothing could be found. It was as if Jackie had just vanished out of thin air, like she never existed. The team moped around, desperately trying to think of something that would get them closer to her. A sound from the computers made them all jump, it had started beeping, slowly at first, but it was beginning to speed up quicker, quicker, quicker.

"We've got company," Jake yelled as he inspected the screen.

Rose pulled Pete over to where she and Tony were sat.

"Stay there with him." She ordered.

He didn't refuse.

The entire team, with the exception of Pete, drew their guns from their belts and aimed it towards the door. The Doctor wasn't one to use his gun, but if this was the same creature that he saw this morning, then he'd shoot to kill. The beeping from the computer continued to increase its speed. It was getting closer. Jake led the team to the doorway.

"On the count of three. One, two, three."

They ran beyond the door out into the hallway, pointing their guns in front of them. They stood silent as they saw the life form that had been detected.

"Doctor is that what you saw earlier?" Rose whispered to him.

"Yeah. Just everyone go careful we still don't know what it's capable of." The Doctor warned.

"Tony no!" they heard from inside the room.

Before any other action could be taken, Tony was running out of the room and towards the creature.

"Mummy" he shouted as he ran.

The Doctor tried to grab him to pull him back, but he wasn't quick enough. And as Tony disappeared along with the creature, the Doctor collapsed to the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tony" Rose screamed, rushing towards the spot that he had run to only seconds before.

He was gone. Rose stood silent; her head was throbbing as a million thoughts rushed around inside it, her ears were ringing as she felt the blood in her cheeks boil, making her sweat slightly. It took a few moments until she realised what had happened to the Doctor. He was resting on his knees, struggling to get onto his feet. The rest of the team hurried over to him, trying to steady him as he was finally able to stand up. He was pale again, he felt sick and dizzy. His chest was aching, as if someone had punctured his heart with a needle and was slowly sucking all of the blood out of it. He wanted to scream at the top of his voice, he wanted to cry, why was he feeling like this?

"No!" they heard Pete cry.

"No not Tony too, please God no." he wept.

Jake went over to comfort him, he had to try and calm him down.

The Doctor was stumbling against the metal cabinets that lined the hallway trying to get himself to Rose. That same feeling that he got this morning, telling him to keep her close, was screaming at him now. He could almost hear it in his head, 'KEEP HER NEAR YOU! DO NOT LET HER GO!'

"Rose" he called for her, reaching out his hand.

She hurried over to him and grabbed it, holding him near her, crying as she buried herself into his chest. She could feel his chest moving quickly up and down, she could feel him squeezing her against him as if it was the last time they were ever going to get to hold each other.

Rose looked up at the Doctor, she saw how pale he was, and there was no doubt now that the cause of the Doctor's sick spells had something to do with this creature. She feared the worst. What if they were trying to kill him? She knew she wouldn't be able to cope with that, she thought about it for a second, and then thought about Tony and her mum. She cried and held him so tightly that she thought he might not be able to breathe. The Doctor didn't notice how tightly she was holding him; he was holding her just as firmly.

Pete had broken down at this point; he'd lost his wife and son within a matter of hours and had no idea where they were or how to get them back. Jake sat him down and gave him a glass of water, while Harry attempted to check the Doctor over. Libby rushed over to the computers to see if she could find anything that would give them some indication to where Tony and the creature had gone. Harry pulled the Doctor and Rose apart and quickly began to listen to the Doctor's heartbeat.

"Harry!" Rose snapped at him, annoyed at the impoliteness of his actions.

"Sorry, but I've got to check you quick Doctor." He said firmly.

"I'm fine" the Doctor insisted.

"Doctor, you can't act like the hero here. That thing is doing something to you and it's my job to find out what, so just let me get on with it." He too insisted, raising his voice.

The Doctor kept quite and let him continue his examinations. Rose stood and watched, still silently crying, as Harry carried out every investigation that he knew. She knew that she should be sitting with Pete, trying to comfort him, but it was better she stayed away otherwise they'd both crumble. Plus, she didn't feel she could leave the Doctor, she needed to know he was ok.

"Pete" Libby called, urgency detected in her voice.

He rushed over and fixated his stare on the computer screen, knowing that she had found something.

"There's a signal. But it's not actually in this world." She explained.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"Well, it's like the signal's here but at the same time it's not. It's…. well… it's between two dimensions." She continued.

"But how?" Pete continued to question.

Libby didn't know, she looked down at the floor and shook her head.

Harry had just finished his examinations on the Doctor; his face was gloomy and frustrated.

"Well?" Rose demanded.

"You're fine," he told the Doctor, rushing into the office to join the rest of the team.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other for a moment, there were so many things they wanted to say to each other, but just couldn't find the voice to.

They walked through to the office to join the rest of the team.

"Doctor, Rose" Pete called.

They both scurried over. Pete explained to them what Libby had found in the hope that they would have some idea of what to do.

"Oh no" the Doctor said once Pete had explained. His voice was barely a whisper.

"What is it Doctor?" Rose asked, her tone concerned and slightly shaky.

"They're void fillers." He began.

"What?" Pete asked.

The Doctor pushed past everyone in front of him to get to the screen. He studied it carefully, before looking back up.

"Void fillers, they basically find space between two dimensions and fill it with a world that they've created with their own imagination. But they can't do this without energy." He gestured, trying to explain as clearly as possible.

"So like our equivalent of food?" Rose asked.

"Exactly. Except what keeps them going is feeding off of other people's emotions." He continued.

He could see the confused looks on the team's faces. He turned to concentrate on Harry.

"What you said earlier Harry, about it following me and Rose through into this universe, you're probably right. That creature is coming from the void, taking people closest to their target which then generates strong emotion which then feeds it and makes it physically stronger."

"So is that why you go weird every time it goes back to the void? You're its victim." Rose stated.

The Doctor nodded his head and looked at her intently.

"But why has it chosen you?" she asked.

"Well, it was either going to be me or you. I guess I'm generating the most emotion out of the two of us."

The Doctor saw a frown appeared across Rose's face, telling him that she needed further explanation.

"Think about it Rose, I've come from a completely different life, met new people, some of which I've grown to love. And then there's you. The woman who I lost and now have back, the woman I've fallen in love with all over again. The woman I can cuddle up to and officially call you my girlfriend. That's some emotion being generated." He said, smiling at her softly.

She smiled back and nodded in understanding.

The rest of the team looked at each other, not knowing quite what to do while the Doctor and Rose were having a 'moment'.

"So what do we do from here?" Pete eventually asked, breaking the silence.

"We capture it." The Doctor said smiling, then looking back at the computer screen.

"What?" the team asked in unison.


	5. Chapter 5

The Torchwood team were all congregated around a table in the office; the Doctor was sat at the head of the table explaining what needed to be done in order to successfully retrieve Jackie and Tony.

"Ok, so what we need to do is trap the creature when it next comes into our dimension. We should be able to tranquillise it and then I'll take it from there." He explained.

"Hold on what do you mean you'll take it from there?" Harry questioned.

"I think I know of a way I can stop it, but there's a possibility it won't work. I'm just going to need you lot to trust me."

The team looked uneasy; as much as they trusted the Doctor they weren't reassured by his uncertainty. The Doctor saw their edgy expressions.

"The Doctor in the other universe was able to go into people's minds; if I can do that then I can stop this from happening." He continued.

"But Doctor, how are we going to tranquillise it? It's just a ghostly figure thing." Rose pointed out.

"As it gets stronger its form becomes more solid, meaning that by the time we get hold of it, it should have flesh." He gestured to her.

Rose nodded in understanding.

"Ok, you lot try and find any trace of a signal. Go!" Pete demanded.

The team scurried away as quickly as they could. The only ones left at the table were Pete, Rose and the Doctor.

"Do you think you can do this Doctor?" Pete asked.

"I really hope so." He replied. His voice was both hopeful and doubtful.

"This is my family Doctor, I can't lose them."

The Doctor stared at him before Pete got up from the table and walked out of the room.

Rose grasped the Doctor's hand and gazed at him.

"Do you think you can do that, go into its mind?" She asked.

"I think I can."

"Try it" Rose said.

The Doctor looked at her puzzled.

"Try it on me, see if it works. Go on it's ok."

The Doctor slowly raised his hands and placed then on Rose's temples. He suddenly found himself surrounded by her thoughts and memories; he could feel everything she had ever felt. His mind laughed, cried, got confused, got angry, every emotion he ever knew existed he could feel. He took his fingers away from her head and looked into her eyes.

"I can do this" he smiled at her.

Rose raised her hand and tenderly stroked his cheek.

"I know you can" she smiled back at him.

"Doctor, we have a signal!" Libby called.

The Doctor and Rose ran over to the computer to observe where the origin of the signal was.

"It's just down the hall and then left." Jake stated.

They ran out of the room their guns in front of them. Jake was carrying the tranquilliser gun. They darted down the hallway and harshly turned to the left. As they turned the corner the creature confronted them. It was stood still, as if trying to stare them out. Jake raised the gun and aimed to shoot.

"Doctor!" they heard Rose yell from behind them.

By the time they had turned to help her she was gone. The creature moved slightly, preparing to return to the void. The Doctor fell to the floor clutching his chest. He was in agony and couldn't breathe.

"Shoot. It's got Rose! Now shoot!" he screamed his orders.

Jake adjusted the aim and shot the creature.

"Where'd it go?" Harry questioned.

As the tranquilliser went through the creature it disappeared. It had returned to the void, where it now had Rose in its capture.

Libby ran back to the office to try and track the signal while Harry and Jake helped the Doctor up. He was crying through the breaths he was struggling for.

As they tumbled through the door of the office, Harry and Jake sat the Doctor on a chair by the door. Pete rushed over to him he looked flustered and angry.

"Doctor you have to get them back." He demanded.

The Doctor straightened up in his seat and grabbed his chest as he did so.

"Ro…Rose."

"She needs you Doctor"

The Doctor leaned forward onto his knees, his eyes narrowed.

"Get that creature here and I WILL get them back." He spat angrily, emphasising the 'will'.

After a while the throbbing pain in the Doctor's chest calmed down and he could breathe a bit more easily. He was able to move around the office, helping the team track down the creature.

"Why didn't the dart work Doctor?" Jake asked him.

"It wasn't formed enough, it just went straight through it, and there was nothing to stop it. Then as soon as it realised we wanted to capture it, it fled."

"Will it come back?"

"It might do. But in theory it's got the one person I truly adore, I can't love anyone more than I love her. So why would it come back?"

"So will she generate enough emotion to keep it alive?"

The Doctor thought for a second, before jumping up on the spot and slamming his hands down onto Jake's shoulders.

"Oh Jakey boy you're brilliant. The creatures got Rose, her brother and mother. But the strongest type of emotion is the love felt between two people; say I don't know a couple. So in order to get all of the emotion possible it's going to need a couple. Meaning Rose and me, me and Rose, salt and pepper, shiver and shake." The doctor grinned.

"So it'll come back for you" Jake confirmed.

"Yup and I'll be waiting."


	6. Chapter 6

Rose looked around bemused by her surroundings. She was stood in a deserted street. She was bordered by small grey buildings; it didn't look like the friendliest place she's ever seen. There was some light bleakly radiating from above her, it seemed artificial. She thought that it made sense the light being false as her whole surroundings were fabricated by the void filler. She continued to examine the dreary environment in the hope that something would inspire her to conjure up a plan to get her out of this hell hole. It was then that she realised, her mother and Tony had to be here too. She began to run up the street, carefully scanning every blacked out doorway, every tiny side street. She began to call for them, shouting their names as she continued to make her way up the lifeless street.

"Rose! She finally heard her mother calling.

Sharply turning into a narrow alleyway, she followed the call of her mother's voice. As she approached as set of plastic black bins, she recognised the two shapes hovering behind them.

"Mum are you ok?" she asked slightly breathless from the running and the adrenaline racing around inside her body.

She offered her a hand to help her up. Jackie pulled her in close to her, before pushing her away and looking at her acutely. Tony remained silent in Jackie's arms.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked annoyed.

"Well, long story short, we're inside a void that's being occupied by a void filler. Basically it's feeding off of emotion in order to grow stronger and survive." She calmly explained taking Tony from her arms and cradling him.

"Ok, so why does it want us?" she asked, totally confused.

"Because it followed us through the void, and chose the one who was generating the most emotion, which was the Doctor."

"Oh I should have known this would be down to him" Jackie interrupted angrily.

Rose's eyes narrowed as she glared at her mum.

"Mum this isn't his fault. Anyway we're only here because he loves us." She continued to explain irritated.

"What do you mean?"

"This creature takes the people that the victim loves the most and keeps them here. Us being here is taking so much emotion that the Doctor feels that it actually hurts him. He's been in agony."

Rose moved Tony from her embrace to her mother's. She started wandering around, nervously biting on her nails.

"Wait a minuet. The Doctor loves me?"

"Well he must do." Rose smiled, giggling slightly.

"So if you're here, surely he's in as much pain as ever."

"Maybe" Rose nodded.

Jackie placed Tony on top of one of the bins, they were clean enough, in fact they'd never been used.

"Maybe? Oh come on Rose if he was in agony with me and Tony gone, I'd hate to see him right now. I've seen how he looks at you; he's totally infatuated with you."

Rose smiled slightly at what her mother had said, she knew he loved her, he'd told her just before she got taken. But it made her realise how much she loved him.

"Rose can I ask you something?" Jackie asked her, interrupting her moment of deep reflection.

She nodded at her to continue. Jackie straightened herself, preparing herself.

"Have you and him,,,, well you know." She asked nervously. She knew it was none of her business, and she didn't really know why she was asking. Rose was still her baby and she just wanted to know.

"MUM!" Rose raised her voice.

"I was only wondering, I mean it's a big thing for you and I was hoping that, you know, if you had any worries you'd be able to talk to me."

Rose felt a ping of guilt. She hadn't really spoken to her about her relationship with the Doctor, he'd just kind of come into her life and that was that. She took in a deep breath.

"No not yet" she admitted, looking at the floor slightly embarrassed.

Jackie lifted her head to look at her.

"Sweetheart there's no need to be embarrassed. So how come you haven't got there yet?"

"Well we did try once, but things got in the way you know. We just don't want to rush into it." She said, hurrying the last bit of her sentence.

Jackie chuckled and stroked Rose's shoulder.

"You do know that it'll be ok right?"

"Yeah I know. Thanks" she said smiling up at her mum.

"So please tell me you've come prepared with a plan to get us out of here." Jackie said.

Rose gave her a faint smile.

"Well not quite. But the Doctor will get us out of here.

"Really?" she questioned.

"Yes. I know he will"


	7. Chapter 7

The creature was back and it stood before the Doctor gradually moving closer and closer to him. The Doctor stood still, not moving an inch. As the creature crept towards him Jake slowly emerged from behind one of the filing cabinets. He had the tranquilliser gun firmly in his grip. As smoothly and silently as he could he swung around and shot it. He was successful this time; the creature had grown stronger now, so it had flesh.

"Oh good shot." The Doctor said joyfully.

The two of them dragged, the now motionless creature, to one of the cages.

"So how will this work Doctor?" Pete asked as he entered the cage.

"Well once I get into its mind I should be able to reverse the world it's created in the void. The world will be destroyed." He explained

"And Jackie and Rose?"

"They should return back to this world safe and sound." He breathed smiling at the thought of getting Rose back. She'd been stuck in the void for nearly six hours, he was growing impatient, he just wanted them all back.

"Ok Doctor we'll get out. Good luck." Pete called as he got everyone out of the enclosure.

They stood by the closed door carefully watching him as he raised the tip of his fingers to the creatures head. The Doctor frowned as he searched around in the creatures mind, trying to find a trace of Rose, Jackie and Tony. He hit the jackpot; he could see them congregated down a side alley by a bunch of bins. At least he knew they were safe, now all he had to do was get them out. Pete looked on in alarm, the Doctor looked sick, he'd gone pale again, his balance was off and he had begun to shake. The team let out a small squeal of shock as the room shook for a few moments before stopping again.

"What the hell was that?" Libby asked.

"Just what we've been looking for." Pete smiled.

He ran into the cage and grabbed Jackie, pulling her close to him.

"Thanks God" he said breathlessly.

"Doctor?" Rose whispered.

He was lay on the floor tranquil. He still looked sick and Rose's first thought was that he was dead. She hurried over to him and placed her hand under the back of his neck, pulling his head up slightly. Harry joined her and checked his pulse.

"Doctor, talk to me."

"It's ok he's just unconscious." Harry assured her.

Harry and Jake picked him up and carried him out of the cage. As they turned to close the door behind them, they noticed the creature beginning to stir. It shakily stood up, swaying from side to side. Before anyone really realised, it was gone. It was just nowhere to be found.

"What's all that about?" Jackie asked.

"I'm not sure." Jake replied staring at the spot.

Back at the Doctor and Rose's place, Pete, Harry and Jackie were lowering the Doctor onto the bed.

"Will he be ok?" Rose asked Harry.

"Yeah, he'll be fine just needs to rest." Rose nodded at him, before sitting herself next to the Doctor. She began to affectionately play with his hair.

"Call me if you need me"

Jackie smiled at him, thanking him for his kindness. Then he left leaving just the Tyler family and the Doctor in the room.

"I'll go and make a cuppa." Pete said, breaking the silence.

He scooped his tired son up in his arms and made his way down stairs. Jackie sat the other side of the Doctor, silently observing her daughter.

"11.30 can you believe it." Jackie said looking at the clock

"I know I'm knackered"

"Then why don't you go to bed sweetheart."

Rose shook her head; she didn't take her eyes off of the Doctor.

"He might come around, I want to be awake." She insisted.

"But he might not wake up until tomorrow."

Rose thought for a moment.

"I'll give it an hour, if he hasn't woken up then I'll get some sleep." She said smiling weakly at her mum.

"You really love him don't you?"

Rose moved her gaze from the Doctor to Jackie and grinned.

"Yeah I do."

The Tyler family sat around the kitchen table talking about the world Rose and Jackie had been stuck in. It had been 45 minutes since they had got back and the Doctor was still unconscious.

"We'd better go Tony's getting ratty." Jackie said as her son climbed out of her arms and stomped off into the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going mister?" Rose asked in a playful tone.

"I'm going to see the Doctor" he exclaimed, his temper short.

Rose started to walk towards him with a slightly sympathetic look on her face. She knew that he was worried about the Doctor; they were like best mates at times.

"Oh darling no, he's sleeping at the moment. But why don't you come round for breakfast in the morning and you can see him then." She bargained with him.

Tony held his arms up for Rose to pick him up. He rested his head against her shoulder and rubbed his eyes.

"But I want to see the Doctor" he began to wine.

"I know but…"

Before was could finish her sentence she was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Tiny Tyler, I hope that's not you I can hear making a fuss."

Tony began to giggle as he heard the Doctor mention the name that only the he was allowed to call him. He started to wriggle out of Rose's arm's and hurried towards the bottom of the stairs, and there stood the Doctor, smiling down at him. He began to giggle again as the Doctor picked him up and squeezed him slightly.

"So I heard you went on a little trip today, did you enjoy it?" the Doctor asked him walking back towards the kitchen.

Tony shook his head furiously.

"No, but mummy and Rose came too, and they said that you love us." Tony began to explain, innocently.

"Oh did they?"

Tony didn't answer him; he was too busy playing with the button on the Doctor's shirt. The Doctor saw Rose smiling in the doorway of the kitchen with Jackie and Pete stood behind her.

"Hi"

"Hi" she replied, her grin growing as she glanced at the floor before looking back up at him.

He very slowly leaned in, he wanted desperately to kiss her, but having her entire family watching them made him feel a little uncomfortable. He was forced to stop by a little face being smashed against his as Tony planted a kiss on his cheek. Everyone started laughing, Tony knew exactly what he had done, and was only doing it to aggravate the Doctor.

"Ok I think it's time to go." Pete stated.

The Doctor handed Tony over to him, much to Tony's disgust, and then looked back down at Rose.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Not too bad, a bit tired, but ok thanks. How about you?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Right then, we'll be off. Thank you so much Doctor." Pete said as he squeezed past him.

"No problem" the Doctor replied.

Jackie walked closer towards the doorway; she had been silent ever since the Doctor had come down. He looked at her as she went to pass him; before his mind could register anything she had him in a tight embrace.

"Thank you Doctor."

The Doctor remained stock still, shocked at what she had just done. Rose grinned in amusement.

"Ok see you later." She said, continuing her path out of the house, she smirked at Pete as she went out of the front door.

"If you're not feeling too good in the morning Doctor then you have my permission to take the day off." He said, grinning to himself.

"Oh and I wanted to ask you, the creature…"

"It disappeared I know. It was destroyed along with the world it created." The Doctor cut in.

Rose looked at him surprised that he'd actually chosen to kill the creature, but she had to remember he was half human now.

"I had to do it, otherwise you lot would have been stuck in there forever." He explained to her.

Rose understood, and gave him a small smile to show that she didn't blame him, why would she he saved them?

Pete, Jackie and Tony left, leaving only the Doctor and Rose left in the house. Rose turned to him after she closed to the door.

"You saved us."

"Well if I was going to get you out, I had to get your mother out as well, as peaceful as it would be without her." he joked.

"You don't mean that." She said, grinning.

"Oh don't I?" he asked mockingly.

Rose closed the space between them, and lightly tugged on his shirt to pull him closer to her.

"No, because now I know that you love her. You've been rumbled." She began to laugh.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and sighed. It was more a sigh of relief than anything else, it had been a tough day, but he finally got Rose back in the end.

"Don't I get a kiss then? I mean it's not like I pulled you from a void between two dimensions and stopped you being trapped there for eternity. Oh no wait I did." He said teasingly.

Rose laughed lightly into his chest before pulling on the collar of his shirt and pulling him in. she placed a kiss firmly on his lips and fell into it as the Doctor held her against him.

There was a sudden knock on the door, Rose had to unwilling pull herself away from the Doctor, complaining as she answered the door. A small boy who was cheekily grinning up at her confronted her.

"Can I help you Tony?" she asked humorously.

"Can I still come round for breakfast tomorrow?" he asked harmlessly.

"Only if you can be up, ready and round here for 7 o'clock."

"Ok. Bye" he said, running back to the car where Jackie and Pete were waiting for him.

Rose chuckled to herself as she closed the door.

"He's a lot like you that boy." The Doctor said, pulling Rose back towards him.

"Oh shut up," she ordered planting another kiss on his lips.

Their gaze lingered on one another for a moment; Rose felt it was the right time. She slowly lowered her hands towards the Doctor's and led him upstairs. As they entered their bedroom, they were in a frenzy of kisses, stopping only for breath and to avoid falling over stray objects. Once they reached the bed they fell into each other, spending the rest of the evening being more intimate than they had ever been before. And it came as a surprise to them just how natural it felt.


End file.
